Been a little out of the loop last couple weeks, guys.
I had mentioned back in November that, even if we had signed Bregman and kept Tucker for this season, we would still be a bat short in the lineup. While I like Paredes and Walker, it’s still a technical downgrade from Bregs and Tuck…and we’re still a bat short.
So, while the division might still be ‘winable,’ I believe it’s gonna be a frustrating year in terms of the win-loss record, and I could easily see us right around .500. Thus, this team is nowhere near a title contender going in, and I think the odds are actually being somewhat kind to us at this point. Hopefully, it’s a one-year fallback only and we get our status back for 2026 once the money on the books falls off. But 2025 looks quite bleak in terms of WS-capable.
Not completely sold on our rotation after Framber and Hunter Brown. I see a few metrics regarding Blanco that aren’t really all that sustainable, and while I like Spencer Arrighetti’s future, he still walks a lot of guys and might still be a year away from being a legit rotation stabilizer. Not counting on Garcia and Cristian Javier for much of this season, if any, and as far as Lance goes, until I see his butt on that mound, I’m not getting ANY of my hopes up.
So, might be a good year to see what we got out of the young kids and get closer to making some decisions there. But I see it being kinda a long year.
And, btw, Altuve to the outfield NOW sounds like a panic move. Not sure where that one’s coming from.
I hope we do get Arenado. Because if they really are putting Altuve in left field just for fun, we might as well add another bat that can put it in the Crawford Boxes.
I don’t see the contract situation being any different now, so that would be a weird obstacle.
I think the Astros are better off without that move, at this point. Third basemen often age poorly, and there pretty good indications that he’d end up being another huge salary for three years of mediocre production at a position that’s already occupied by a guy with questionable 2B skills.
It just doesn’t make much sense in the context of the other moves the Astros have made.
Does anyone remember Maldonado? He could NOT hit over 180. Great backstop but he was the ultimate hole in an offense. If we can get adequate defense from offensive players, we are better.
As of right now your 7-8-9 are holes in your lineup….even the best teams have 1-2….but not three….very difficult to have a big inning with that issue…and we are going to be pulling our hair out by how many times we have a couple of guys on with zero or one out and two guys on….gets to the back end of the lineup and get nothing.
And, MLB teams are smart….you can pitch around your 5-6 guys to get to 7-8-9….it is a huge problem.
Chas has to revert to 2023 ( hopefully last year was mostly health related)….and Dezenzo needs to be out there….big strong , athletic guy, can hit for power and a bit of average and has an arm( former SS).
I would let Dubon fight it out with Meyers….not just automatically give it to Jake.
It’s hard to mix those tomato cans in higher in the lineup to try to minimize the damage when you have that many. It’s especially hard when the 6th guy is questionable, too.
If we get the best versions of all four guys, that’s a great lineup. If just two of them return to form (or we find new guys who are better), we’re in very good shape.
I think Dezenzo gets you through number 7 in the lineup without the “automatic out” label.
He got a taste, not gonna be intimidated and should put up decent numbers IF!!! Espada will put him out there and let him play 25/30 games to get settled and prove himself….if he does that crap where he plays musical chairs where no one even has time to get in a groove then not so much.
FYI-Dubon sent to Houston for test on sore shoulder.
No, thank you for correcting……I thought I heard Dubon.
When I heard it they were saying he was warming up on the field, playing catch and something didn’t feel right….i assumed incorrectly that it was Dubon.
